Hanging by a Moment
by MauraRizzoli16
Summary: AU. Detective Jane Rizzoli has conquered everything from dinner dates that her mother set up, to serial killers. She's about to conquer her toughest assignment yet, a Beauty Pageant, the Miss Boston Pageant. There she meets the girl of her dreams but can she save her in time? Rating T but subject to change for later chapters. Co-written -we own nothing.
1. Chapter 1: Immortals

_A/N:_ I'm back! My friend .ruby and I have been writing this for a while now. It's AU, Maura is 23 and Jane is 30, turning 31. Any questions or comments, you can PM me anytime! And now, ladies and gents, I give you this lovely story! Enjoy! :)

 **Disclaimer:** We do not own Rizzoli & Isles or its characters. They are property of TNT, Tess Gerritsen, and Janet Tamaro. We just make them fit our story line.

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Hanging by a Moment

 **Jane POV:**

 **June 13th, 2016**

I've been sitting at a table in this musky bar for hours watching Hoyt's henchmen talk over a pint of beer. After 3 dead couples, I've finally been able to get close enough to Hoyt's gang. They've been doing nothing but drinking and playing cards, having a grand ole time since I've been here. Nothing incriminating or suspicious yet.

The boss is getting anxious. No movement here means something bad may be going down somewhere else, and these low lifes are just serving as a distraction to us. Hoyt knows we are after him, so he's being extra careful. If I mess up this undercover op, Korsak won't be happy. After what he did to the Captain's family, everyone wants Hoyt to pay and for his control of the city to be over.

Finally something seems to be going on. They stopped playing cards and cleared the table. "Korsak", I say lowly so no one at the pub would hear me. "Do you see what I see?" trying to point out the 3 other people walking over to the table.

"Yeah Jane. They are packing." he responds.

Suddenly one of the guys starts yelling on the phone about something not going right. "What do you mean you left prints? How long have you been working for us?!", the guy yells. Turning, he looks around to make sure no one is listening to his conversation. But of course his eyes land right on mine and all hell breaks loose.

He sees me listening in and alerts the others. I try to play it off, but he doesn't buy it. Everyone in his group pulls their gun on me.

"Korsak now!" I yell. "Boston PD, Freeze!" I yell pulling my weapon. I hear Frost saying that he is going to take the back entrance. Now there's a standoff between Korsak and the other officers, and the low life scum. I try to reason with them, lowering my weapon and moving towards them. Now I'm stuck in the middle of this with no weapon or Kevlar. I see something moving out of the corner of my eye. It's another perp, with a gun at the back of my head. Rafi moves towards the guy to get him away from me. Suddenly everyone is tackling each other, and I see this brawl as just the distraction I need to get away from this guy so Rafi can handle him.

I am trying to help make some arrests for the few perps who are still left. One of them is giving me a particularly hard time, but I stop that with a strategically placed punch. I shove him onto a table and slap cuffs on him. At this moment, I see Rafi down and quickly rush over to him, calling for a medic. Somehow, Rafi got hit in the middle of this craziness, and the main henchmen (that I was supposed to be covering, mind you) get away, leaving the others to take the fall for him and be scapegoats so he can get away unharmed to finish his business. "Hey Rafi come on stay with me alright. Think about Lucas and Lea." Rafi tries to say something, I'm sure it's something witty and sarcastic, trying to lighten the mood, but I shush him before he can get a word out. "Shh, don't speak. Save your energy. Just listen to the sound of my voice, don't close your eyes. Stay with me, you're doing great."

"Where's that bus?!" I yell. Finally, after what seems like forever, help finally comes for Rafi. Now I just hope he's okay. I couldn't live with myself otherwise. It's all my fault he got shot. I can't believe I was that stupid. I see my captain, Sean Cavanaugh, shaking his head with a disappointed look on his face and I feel even worse. I sigh and start mentally beating myself up.

It's as if Frost can tell what's going on in my head, "I know what you're thinking. But don't beat yourself up over this. You made a choice. You thought it was a good one at the time, but it turned out it wasn't the right move. It's done, and there's nothing to do to fix it. Let's just hope Rafi is okay. We got some of the guys though. All in a day's work. You win some you lose some. Feeling better yet? Now go home, you look like crap. You were sitting there for hours, you've got to be tired. I mean it. I will call you and let you know how Rafi is the minute I hear any news. We can pick this up in the morning. I know the boss will have some not so nice words to say to you."

Defeated, I walk towards my car. I know Frost is right, there's nothing to do now, but I still for horrible for how things happened. But a nice cold beer and a baseball game don't sound half bad right now, so I decide to try to push it out of my mind for tonight and prepare for the punishment I'm sure to get tomorrow from the Captain and Korsak.

I arrive home to my mother waiting for me, sitting on the couch with a look of worry on her face, scaring me half to death.

"Oh Janie thank God you are okay! You know I worry about you every day you go to work. I can't help it, it's just what a mother does. Why are you getting home so late?"

"God Ma! I gave you a key for EMERGENCIES ONLY! What if I brought someone back here?"

"Well did you?"

I sigh "No".

"See well there you go. Now back to the topic at hand. Why haven't you been calling me? Even Frankie calls me at least once a day and he's training for the Red Sox."

"That's because he's a mama's boy." I mumble.

Frankie and I used to be close. I used to help him practice pitching and everything and now he can't even look my way. We haven't spoken since Tommy got arrested. He thinks Tommy is guilty, and I insist he's innocent. But that's a story for another day. Now he's playing for the Boston Braves now but he's about to be drafted by the Red Sox and he didn't even have the decency to call and tell me, I had to read about it in the paper.

"What did you say?"

Holy… All the time. She has hearing like a freaking bat I tell you. "Nothing Ma. It's nice that he calls you. He's just playing baseball. I'm getting the criminals and the low life thugs off the street so he can play baseball. So in retrospect, my job is way more important." I make my way to the fridge in the kitchen. Opening the door, it's depressing. Random condiment bottles that have probably expired a while ago litter the shelves on the door. There's like a drop of milk left in the container, but there's always enough beer. Literally, my fridge looks like the fridge of a recently divorced guy. It's truly pathetic. I grab a bottle of Blue Moon, and move back to the living room to try and make Ma leave.

"So how was your day sweetheart?" I don't answer at first, trying to think of an answer that is better and less concerning than 'horrible, I got Rafi shot'.

I finally decide on "Well I've had better", and hope she leaves it alone. But who am I kidding.

"Why what happened", she asks. I begrudgingly explain to her about how I was undercover following some of Hoyt's low life monkeys, and that my cover was blown and Rafi ended up getting shot. Her face becomes ashen at the mention of Hoyt.

"Janie are you sure you should be working that case, even after what happened?"

"Ma that is the exact reason why I should be working this case. I'm dedicated to catching this guy and making him pay for what he did to me and all of his other victims."

I can tell she doesn't agree, but thankfully she lets it go. For tonight at least, I'm not that lucky that she won't bring it up again. After chatting for about another half an hour, I finally get Ma out the door and go to bed. I'm ready to go to sleep and start a new day tomorrow, hopefully it's a better one.

 _*R &I*R&I*R&I*_

 **June 14th, 2016**

Just like clockwork, I wake up at the crack of dawn and get ready for the day. I know it's not going to be an easy one. I just hope we get good news about Rafi. I grab my mug of coffee, take a deep breath, and head out the door to work where I know a major punishment is waiting for me.

"Rizzoli, my office", Cavanaugh says as he comes out of nowhere. We really need to invest in an alarm system or a bell for him. He's always behind us or startling us to death when he just appears. I've known that I'll be in trouble and that I'll get yelled at, but I don't want to accept it. I follow Cavanaugh to his office. I feel like I've been sent to the principle by 'Sister Bitcher' back in elementary school.

"Look, Captain, before you say anything Sir, I want to apologize again for my actions last night. I got careless and I'm sorry, it won't happen again Sir."

"You're damn right it won't happen again Rizzoli because until further notice you're on desk duty. No field work until I say so, that's an order. You got it?"

"Yes sir", I start to walk out of his office when he stops me, "Oh and by the way Rizzoli, Rafi is going to be fine. It was just a flesh wound. He's taking the rest of the month off though to spend time with his family and recover."

"Thanks for letting me know sir." I offer a sad smile and walk back to my desk. Frost is there waiting for me with an apologetic look. I sit down, and almost immediately after I see a big stack of paperwork land on my desk with a note from the Captain.

'Something to keep you busy', it says.

Frost gets called into Cavanaugh's office as I start to sort through the paperwork that's taking up most of my desk. After a few minutes I see them walking out, and Cavanaugh patting Frost on the back. "For the Surgeon Case, Detective Frost is going to take lead. Assemble your team and let me know by the end of the day."

The next thing I hear is Frost's sarcastic comment, "So, who's buying me lunch today?" and quickly everyone is surrounding him, shaking his hand and introducing themselves. They are all a bunch of case vultures, wanting to get credit for closing as many cases as they can. They annoy me, and if I wasn't on desk duty I would be yelling at them and clearly explaining my feelings towards them. But since I am, I just keep my head down and try to focus on filling out this 7-20.

"Hey Frost, we got a tip I think you're gonna want to listen to", I hear Brooks say to Frost. I try to push the curiosity out of my mind. 'I'm not on the case anymore', I think to myself. Yeah, it hurts that Frost took over my case, but I messed up I just want Hoyt caught. Do I wish it was me that gets to catch him, hell yes, but as long as his is arrested it doesn't really matter who slaps the cuffs on him.

After Frost gets the tip, he disappears for hours, probably checking up on the tip to see if it leads anywhere.

I groan and look at my desk, which is still covered by mountains of paperwork. It's going to take me forever to finish this mess. Begrudgingly, I get to work. I'm barely through the biggest pile when I see Frost walk in with a smile. Must be that tip checked out.

He walks into the Captain's office, and I hear them talking about a beauty pageant. 'What the hell was that tip?', I think to myself. I can't image how Hoyt has anything to do with a beauty pageant. What does a major crime ring have in common with a bunch of girls strutting around in bikinis without brains saying how they want world peace. World peace. Yeah right. Well if we catch Hoyt and all of his minions, we will definitely be one step closer to it.

I push the thought of Hoyt out of my mind and do my best to concentrate on the massive amount of paperwork still left before me. How does this much paper even exist? How is my desk not breaking under all this weight, and how many trees did we kill to print all of this stuff?

I continue working on forms for about another hour until I'm interrupted by the crowd of people surrounding Frost's desk, which is unfortunately right next to mine. 'What's going on', I think to myself. I'm about to go over and jokingly lecture Frost about what is work appropriate, porn not being one of them. But then I realize he is dressing up all the female, and some male, officers using some computer program and suddenly the screen changes and Cavanaugh is up there. I am not missing an opportunity to see what they come up with, and pick on the guys, so I head over to take a look. My investigation is quickly short lived however, because Cavanaugh actually appears right behind Frost. Giving him a very well executed head-slap and a warning, Cavanaugh starts towards me, asking about my finished paperwork. Oh how I want to be a major bitch right now, but I know that if I am I'll be in even more trouble than I already am.

 **A/N: Hope you guys liked it. Reviews are like cookies and you can never have too many cookies...hint hint...**


	2. Chapter 2: Begin Again

**A/N: Hey guys! We are shocked with the response of this story! Thank so much! Well you guys don't want to keep reading my rambling... so here's the next update! Enjoy! :)**

 **Flashbacks are in _italics_**

 ***Side note:** Congratulations to Sasha Alexander on her PCA win! Rizzoli and Isles should definitely not be ending! What are these people thinking?!

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing. Rizzoli & Isles belongs to TNT, Tess Gerritsen, and Janet Tamaro and Jan Nash. This story is very similar to the movie "Miss Congeniality" starring Sandra Bullock. **

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Hanging by a Moment

 **Jane POV:**

"Back to your desk Rizzoli", Cavanaugh booms and walks out of the room. "Yes sir", I answer quietly.

"Why didn't anyone tell me he was right behind me? Really guys?" Frost complains and there's grumbles and excuses about not having eyes in the back of their heads and not paying attention. Whatever, "Frost, can you keep everything case related and not going and having fun? Hoyt needs to be stopped and you are damn wrong if you think I'm going to let you screw this up. You know how important it is…. What the hell is that?! Get it off the screen now!" I am so pissed right now because now my officer profile and picture are on the screen and suddenly I'm wearing a stupid polka-dot bathing suit. "Philips, get it off the screen!" I all but growl at the lackey. All the guys laugh, all of them except Frost that is.

"Now hold on… That actually doesn't look that bad. Try a long dress thing or whatever they call them." Frost says and I guess I've turned into invisible girl once again. My protests fall on deaf ears, man I really hate it when this happens. Quicker than I can reach over to turn off the screen, there is a picture of me flashing on the screen with a dress on. "That's not bad at all. It could work." Frost turns to me and right now I'm fuming. "You're so funny Frosty. You better save that because you'll never see it again." I turn back to my desk. I don't want Cavanaugh showing up out of nowhere and yelling at me again. Frost's cries for me fall on my deaf ears for a change. Man, I really need a drink!

"Look Janie, you are our only hope. None of the other female officers are available or fit the bill."

"Oh thanks Frost, you sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself. Nice to know I'm the last choice." I say gruffly. "Well, to be fair, none of us really see you as a girl, Rizzoli. It's not like you prance around here with heels on and caked on make-up. Not that you look bad or anything, it's just we see you as one of the guys, a tough, kickass cop."

"What so now girls can't be kickass, tough cops, is that what you are saying?"

"No you are taking this all wrong. Just please, hear me out. That's all I'm asking. This undercover op is key to stopping Hoyt, and we all know how much you want to do that. And if that means dressing like a girl for once to do it, what's the big deal. Who knows, it might not be as bad as you think."

"Have you ever worn makeup, a dress, heels, or a bikini Frost? They aren't as fun for us as they are for you guys to look at. "

"Well I'm not opposed to begging to get you to do this. Or I will go straight to Cavanaugh and have him officially assign it to you, as an order, so you can't say no."

"Well then, that's what you are going to have to do. I'm not going to voluntarily put myself through all of that work to look like a girly girl."

"Trust me Jane, you will look good." I scoff at that. "Oh stop ogling me now Frost, or I'll hit ya until you forget that image." But I can't deny that the compliment isn't nice. What girl doesn't like to be told they look good?

"Okay well since you won't agree to it when I ask nicely, let's go talk to the Captain. Hey Captain!" Before I can protest, I am being dragged into Cavanaugh's office and told to sit in the chair like a dog.

"Frost, what can I do for ya?" Cavanaugh asks without looking up from his desk, "Well sir, you know how I got the tip about the beauty pageant and the undercover opportunity?" Cavanaugh nods for him to continue, "Well I was going through officers trying to find one that is right for the position, and I stumbled upon Jane. With a little cleaning up, she could really fit in with the crowd and get the information we need."

"Frost, Jane is on probation right now. Strictly desk duty. No field work. You know that. I can't risk it. Nothing else can go wrong to jeopardize this case."

"I know that sir but please let me show you what I mean." He shows him the computer generated picture of me in the bikini and dress.

Cavanaugh is quiet for a few minutes. "Well I can't deny that she looks good in a dress, and would definitely be able to strut her stuff with the best of 'em in this pageant, I just don't know if I can chance it."

"Do I really not have a say in this?" I ask, being completely ignored for what feels like the umpteenth time today.

"Please Captain, this is our last shot, and she's our only hope. She can do it. I trust her fully."

"Okay Frost, well if you're vouching for her, your ass is on the line too. You need to watch her, you're gonna be held responsible for her actions just as much as she is."

"Captain, as happy as I am to be off of desk duty for this assignment, do you really think I'm the best person for the job. I mean as Frost so nicely pointed out earlier, I'm not exactly a girly girl. I never have been one to dress up or be a typical girl."

"I know that Rizzoli, but as far as I understand, you are our only option. We need to catch Hoyt, and I'm willing to use you to do it. Consider it an order. No objections." He dismisses us, effectively ending our conversation, if you could even call it that. We both exit the office and Frost, sensing that I am angry, walks away from me and heads towards the break room. I start to go after him, intending on speaking my mind and telling him exactly how I feel about the stunt he just pulled.

"Frost. You are number one on my hit list right now. I am not happy with you, **at all**. You better run before I can catch you and beat you silly for going over my head to the Captain and making me do this stupid girly pageant." I chase him into the gym, only stopping after I see we aren't alone.

"Okay Rizzoli, I'll fight ya for it. If you beat me, you're off the case and I somehow find someone else to do it. I win, you suck it up and be a girl. Deal?"

"Oh you're on!" We both put on gloves, and get ready to duke it out. We circle around each other for a few minutes, trying to psych each other out, until someone yells "Oh get on with it already."

I make the first punch, effectively hitting him in the side of his head. I wrap my arm around his neck and try to pull him down to the ground.

"Jane it won't be that bad. I will make sure you are dressed tastefully, and with a couple of body shaping exercises, you will be good to go."

That distracts me for a moment, making me lose my focus, giving Frost the perfect opportunity to retaliate.

"My money is on Frost." I hear someone say, probably Foster. I never really liked that guy. "Nah, you don't know Jane like I do. Don't underestimate her. When she's angry enough, she can pack a real punch. 50 bucks on Jane." I hear Korsak say. Good old Korsak, always collecting bets on me. At least he's in my corner for this one.

We both throw a few more punches, and pull out all the stops. No one is holding back, we're using everything we got. In the end, Frost is somehow victorious and I'm lying on my back wondering how I ended up there.

"How in the hell did you do that?" "You forget Jane, I know your weaknesses and tells. Heck I think I know you better than I know yourself."

I take a very slow deep breath. "So you're saying… That I have to… wear the dress?" I manage to let out through pants. Frost looks down at me on the ground. "Yup!" he says cheerfully, thinking that he has me all figured out. So I decide to wipe the smug smile off his face. "Oh okay." I say as I side swipe his feet out from under him. Causing him to crash down on the mat next to me.

Across the gym I hear Korsak cheering for me. "You go, Janie" he says. I raise my gloved arm in the air in acknowledgement. I just won that battle. Distracted, I don't see Frost getting up, until it's too late. I'm on the ground again, after Frost tackled me, and he is now pinning me down. I wriggle around furiously, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Nuh uh Jane, I'm not letting you go that easy. I need you for this case. Now admit your defeat so we can continue on with our day. You still have a bunch of paperwork to do since you don't start your new assignment until tomorrow"

I stop struggling and wait a few moments, thinking about what he said. I think about just giving in. I know whether or not I win this fight, my orders are to go undercover; so I will have to do it, whether I want to or not. I don't give up, I'm no quitter. I use all of the strength I can muster and maneuver out of Frost's tight grip, this time pinning him to the mat, and keeping him there. He eventually taps out, astounded that I managed to beat him and his ego.

"Jane, congrats you won the fight. But we both know Cavanaugh is still making you go on assignment. It's out of my hands now. You will do great. You really proved yourself today, you can do anything you put your mind to. That's part of the reason I agreed to the fight. I wanted you to let out some of your anger and realize how much of an asset you will be to the team."

"Yeah yeah. Let's just get on with our day, yeah? As you said, I still have to go undercover in a dress and bikini either way, thanks to the Captain's orders."

It's been 3 days since my little fight with Frost. Even though I won the fight, I'm still about to go meet the woman who runs the pageant I am being forced to participate in. Needless to say, I am quite unhappy about the particulars of the assignment. Specifically the part where I have to strut around a stage in a bikini and heels. I mean really? Do men think that all women just want to strut around half naked on stilts? As nice as they may look, wearing bikinis all day is no cakewalk. Plus in my case… a bikini and scars don't, how do they say it, "win crowns" or whatever those bimbos win. I've been promised that they will be covered up somehow though. They bring about too many questions and suspicions, which we can't have when undercover. I'm still worried that someone is going to ask about my hands…

* * *

" _No please don't! Not again! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?" I'm shut up with a slap to the face. I'm sitting in a chair, well tied to a chair, with my hands and feet bound. My mouth was taped over, but he took it off so I could eat. A slice of bread and a little water, how fucking generous of him. I have a feeling that my mouth will be taped shut sometime soon after my little outburst. He doesn't like when I do that. I try not to move too much. It hurts when I do. There are cuts and lacerations all over my stomach, legs, and back. The son of a bitch pushes me around when I get too mouthy. Every time he comes in here, I try to reason with him, but to no avail. For some reason, he wants me, and I'm trying so hard to stop it but no matter what I do, nothing works. I almost had the ropes off once, but he caught me. That was no fun. Tighter ropes and more scars after that incident. I can't help but wonder if anyone is looking for me. They have to be by now right? I can't even tell how long I've been here, it's so dark. Hours feel like days. One time, I pushed back, before my hands were tied. That resulted in me being tied spread eagle, and him stabbing scalpels through both my hands. "Oh Jane, didn't your mother ever tell you to use your words, not your hands? You know I love hearing that pretty voice of yours. Hearing you beg for me."_

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I'm pulled out of my nightmare induced memory when I hear Frost calling for me. I try to shake it off, and walk over to him. Making a fist and opening my hands over and over again. These memories haven't gotten to me this much in a long time. It always happened before and during a big undercover operation. It seems to play a reminder for me, telling me to be extra careful. I really don't need any more of that shit to happen again. I guess it's flaring up because this op is so close to Hoyt,

"Hey Frost, you needed me?" I ask, knowing full well what is about to happen. "We need to go Jane. The hosts of the Miss Boston Prelims agreed to meet us at 10. It's almost 9:45 and it's at least a 20 minute drive. So we need to leave like now."

"Alright. Let me grab my coffee real quick and then we can go."

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 **A/N:** Please review! We want to know what you guys think and if we should continue. We will also be posting polls for upcoming chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: Change

**A/N: Hey guys, its the other writer of this story, Kelsey. Annie decided to let me write the AN this time. Sorry it took us so long for us to update, we are both so busy but we are working on it! Hope you all like this chapter. As always, we love to hear from you, so please leave a review!**

 **Disclaimer-We don't own the characters, they belong to their rightful owners. We also don't own Miss Congeniality, just borrowing the plotline.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Hanging by a Moment

Chapter 3: Change

 **Janes POV:**

With some skillful driving, we manage to make it just 2 minutes late. Beat my last record of 5 minutes late to a place down the street from the office building where we were told to meet these 'pageant people'.

"Not too shabby, eh Frost?"

"Yeah we're lucky we didn't die."

"Oh stop being so dramatic, let's just go get this over with shall we?"

We walk into a fancy building, with pictures of former contestants lining the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. While Frost tells the receptionist we are here, I take a closer look at some of the past winners. I recognize one from a bust we did a few months ago, the girl was selling herself and addicted to drugs. A lot of good this pageant did her.

"She's ready for you" I hear the receptionist tell Frost, flirtingly grabbing his arm as she walks away. I roll my eyes at him and pull him towards the director's office.

"Hello there. I am Cynthia Gray. I've been directing the Lady Liberty pageant for the past 25 years. And this is my co-host, Chris Murphy. How can we help you?"

"Well ma'am we have received a tip that indicates there may be a major threat against your girls and this pageant. The men involved in this threat are very serious, and not to be taken lightly. In order to ensure the safety of your pageant contestants and many other involved, we would like to have an officer go undercover in the pageant to help keep an eye on things."

"Is that really necessary? And besides, all of the girls have already been picked for each state. While the safety of my girls is a top concern, I can't just squash one of their hopes and dreams in order for an officer to go undercover to save us from a threat that may or may not happen."

"Don't worry about that. We have that taken care of. One of the contestants has a not so nice history that conflicts with your policy. So our officer will be taking her place."

"Okay well who do you have in mind?" Frost is silent for a few moments, and I smile at the director. Once she realizes I am who he is talking about, she laughs.

"Oh I'm sorry dear. It's just hard to imagine you in a pageant is all. Let me give you the number of someone who can really help you out. His name is Anthony Calder. If anyone can turn you into a beauty queen in a week, it's him. In order to access the stage at all times, you will need to be in the Top 5. This will be quite the feat because these 5 ladies go on to enter the Miss America pageant."

"Well, we are going to need your help with that part. We need to ensure she has access to all areas at all times."

"You have our full cooperation. Now you better go off to see Anthony. The sooner you start the better darling", Chris says, dismissing us.

Frost calls the makeover guru guy and arranges for us to have dinner to discuss things tonight at 7. I still don't understand why everyone is so shocked that I would be the one doing the pageant. I know that I'm no model like Cindy Crawford or Angie Harmon, but I like to think that I'm somewhat attractive. I'm no 'Ugly Betty', right? But whatever. My fate is going to be told at 7 and I just can't freaking wait. Not!

"Jane, why don't you go home? I will meet you at the restaurant at 7. You need to be mentally prepared for this, so go take a nap and then get ready. Try to look your best. We need this guy to make this work. It's critical to the success of the operation. So just try to be the girliest version of you there is please, for me, with a cherry on top?" Frost asks me, oh so nicely and for once I'm not going to put up a fight. I'm exhausted and I will probably bitch this Anthony guy out if I don't take a quick nap.

"No promises, Frostie." I say over my shoulder as I walk out of the bullpen.

* * *

I have been sleeping peacefully for 10 blissful minutes until I am rudely woken up by my mother.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli what the heck are you doing?" Ma yelled as she burst through the front door of my apartment.

Well I was sleeping, I mumble. "Ma, will you quiet down. I'm trying to sleep here!? I need to get some rest, I've got a few long and stressful days ahead of me."

"That's exactly what I came to talk to you about. What are you thinking!?"

"Ma calm down. I won't be alone. I've got a whole team with me. It won't be like last time. I need to catch him, Ma. I can't live knowing he's still out there. I just want him and his crew behind bars, and if it means me doing this stupid thing, then I'm going to do it."

"Janie, I just want you safe. And to me that means being as far away from this, and him, as possible but I know that's not your style. So just please promise me you will be careful and won't do anything or go anywhere without telling Frost. I can't have someone not knowing where you are or went again. This can't be like New York. I can't get through that again."

"Ma, I promise. This will be done by the book this time. We can't afford any slip ups, we won't get a chance like this ever again. Just think Ma, if this all goes well, it will all be over for me, for good this time."

"I love you Janie." "I love you too Ma. Now please go so I can get some sleep before I'm off to my makeover."

-R&I-I wake up after a 2 hour nap. Perfect timing, I have just enough time to find something that actually makes me look girly and actually do my makeup to look like I'm wearing some. After all, Frost said I need to do my best to look like an actual girl so I'm pulling out all the stops.

An hour and a half, and a messy room full of clothes strewn about the room later, I'm finally headed out the door.

*R&I*R&I*R&I*

Walking into a restaurant named Le Boute Truk, Frost and I look at each other and laugh silently. "We're not in Kansas anymore, Frostie." I whisper to him when I look around the restaurant. "Luckily you wore your monkey suit huh, you'll fit right in with these clowns who are paying $20 for like 3 pieces of lettuce."

"Hey, just be grateful that this Anthony Calder is offering to buy us lunch to talk over this pageant thing with us. You could never afford even a glass of beer here. Scratch that. I doubt they even sell our regular beer. It's probably imported from England and the ingredients were planted and maintained by nuns." Frost mumbled to me. Naturally needing to 'one-up-him' I point out the flaws in his thinking.

"I doubt they even sell any beer here, only the most expensive wines and champagnes, fancy crap."

I shake my head and laugh a little. Sometimes I don't understand how he can be team leader.

I see this old stuffy looking man sitting at a table alone, with a scotch in his hand. The only thing different about him is he is wearing a bright patterned tie and some very interesting socks. I assume this is our guy, so I head over to the table leaving Frost to follow me.

"Anthony Calder?" I ask the old man. He looks up at me with a strange look and then it seems to dawn on him who I am.

"If you are Detective Jane Rizzoli then I quit right now." I laugh and look at Frost.

"Yes, that's me, and this is my partner Detective Barry Frost. I'm so glad that you agreed to meet with us." I say trying to stay polite. But apparently this guy isn't into being friendly.

"I only agreed because Cynthia never told me that you were a train wreck. I don't know if I'll be able to fix this mess." Anthony continues to insult me.

"Look Buddy, this is a very serious criminal investigation you are messing with here-" I'm cut off by Frost trying to play peacemaker...again.

"I think what Jane means to say is we would appreciate your help with this very much sir. The FBI is willing to put in a little extra, forget some of your debts. That change your mind?"

That gets Anthony to just nod and play nice for a little. We end up ordering food and halfway through the meal it turns into 'let's insult the detective game'

"With all due respect Detective, I just don't know if you are cut out for this. I mean a woman in your line of work has to appear very strong and how should I say this, manly."

I scoff at this. "You don't think I can actually be a girl? I am one you know, unlike you who just has a very prevalent feminine side apparently"

"Prove me wrong then."

"Gladly."

We stand up from the table and head outside. After all, a fancy restaurant is no place to pretend to be a beauty queen apparently.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Let's start with a walk. Let's hope you can walk more gracefully than the horrid trekking you did into the restaurant."

I start to walk a few steps when I'm stopped.

"No, no no, like this. Watch, glide your feet. Like a graceful ice skater…" I don't hear the rest of that he's saying. I'm paying too much attention to trying to prove this geezer wrong. Of course I'm not really watching where I'm going and Boston drivers can be worse than New York drivers.

I feel heat against the back of my legs and turn around and slam my hands on this random teenager's hood. "HEY, I'M GLIDING OVER HERE!" I yell to try to get my point across and turn back to walking.

"You handled that nicely Ms. Rizzoli" Anthony says to me and I give him and his bad attitude a scowl.

"I see your manners are also lacking, as if I couldn't tell from your belching the table."

"Hey, better out than in I always say." I reply with a smirk. I am finding that it is fun to mess with Anthony. A new hobby if you will. I enjoy getting under his skin.

We end this small start to the makeover process before we kill each other and agree to meet in the morning.

"See you bright and early, Sunshine. I'm gonna need all the time I can get with you before the pageant starts. I only have 1 day to work my magic, so you better be prepared."

*R&I*R&I*R&I*

My alarm clock goes off at 4 am, waking me with a start. It won't shut off, so I throw it across the room with a groan. Its way too early to wake up and go get poked and prodded by a bunch of people I don't know. But I know I have to get up so I do. I decide to make Anthony's job even harder and don't even try to look passable. I roll out of bed, put on sweats and a BPD shirt, and drive to some abandoned warehouse where I've been told to meet everyone.

I walk into the warehouse and am shocked at the sheer number of things going on in there. There's about a hundred different outfits, 3 makeup artists, 3 hair stylists, a scary looking waxing station or a possible torture area (not really sure) , and a bunch of other people that do who knows what.

"What is all this crap?" I mumble.

I am greeted by Frost with a coffee in his hands.

"I hope that's for me."

"Hope you had breakfast Jane, cause there's no food around here whatsoever. Something about beauty pageants don't eat donuts or something like that."

"What do they do, live on air? Jeez."

Before Frost can respond, I'm dragged away by Anthony.

"Ahh Sunshine, you've finally made it." Anthony said with a smirk. "A little scared I see? If you really don't want to do this, just say the words right now so we won't be wasting any of my people's time when you quit later."

I laugh at him. "Oh please. I was born ready." What the hell did I get myself into?

The next thing I know I'm being pulled to the torture area, I mean waxing station. Really, do we have to start with the worst looking one huh? I think to myself. I guess after I get through this, everything else should be a piece of cake.

Boy was I wrong. The waxing hurt like hell, not to mention people were in places they shouldn't have been considering they are complete strangers to me.

"Hey Bucko, shouldn't you at least wine and dine me first?"

After the waxing was teeth whitening, which apparently was very necessary according to Anthony. Something about coffee stains and how I should be British with my teeth.

Next my hair was pulled in a million different directions, and they put stuff in my hair I didn't even know existed. After what felt like, and probably was, hours in the hair and makeup chair, it was time to move on to wardrobe.

After a couple of "I am NOT wearing that", and "No way Mister", we finally decide on a dress we are both comfortable with. It's a short, tight, red, bondage type dress with cutouts. After I am finally able to look in the mirror, I must say I look damn good.

Anthony tells me I am finally ready to make my big reveal, after a cocky remark from him about being "Damn good", I just roll my eyes and start to walk out of the warehouse.

I walk out with Anthony and the rest of the team behind me. I'm strutting my stuff towards where the team is, leaning against the SUV. All their jaws drop.

"Don't worry, I'm still a badass under all this. Don't mess with me." I now much as finish my statement when I stumble and almost fall in these sky high heels. I quickly regain my composure and continue my strut to the SUV.

"Jane is that you?" I hear some catcalls and whistles from the other guys but shut them up with a look.

"Yeah Frost, pretty good huh?"

"I must say Mr. Calder, you sure are as good as they say you are, if not better. We're sure to get Hoyt with her looking like that."

"I'm standing right here ya know, and I'm not a piece of meat. I can still kick your ass in these heels and dress." I go to fake punch him but I stumble again in the heels. Looks like I need a little more practice in these babies.

*R&I*R&I*R&I*

The drive to the convention center isn't long but I can barely keep my eyes open.

"Tiring being a girl Janie?"

"You have no idea."

"We're here. Let's get this show on the road."

Frost and I stepped out of the Black SUV. I am immediately hit with a strong smell of perfume and hairspray, which can only mean one thing, Cynthia is around here somewhere.

I am already getting a headache from all the different perfume and hairspray and who knows what other smells mixing together. 2 minutes here and I already have a headache, and I haven't even met any of these airheads yet.

I walk around to the trunk and grab all of my bags that I'll need for the pageant when Cynthia is suddenly next to me, smiling. "Oh Jane, I'm so excited you're going to be keeping the girls and the pageants reputation safe. I'm sure that the girls will be thanking you after this pageant is over with. Anthony hasn't lost his touch, I hardly recognize you!"

"Cynthia, it's really no problem at all. I don't want this bastard to hurt anymore people. And if this is the only way that we can catch him, then so be it."

She is silent for a minute. I thought for a second it was because I offended her. To be honest it is kinda suspicious to me, I need to keep her in mind on the suspect list too. You never know.

Turns out, she was just staring at me still.

"You definitely won't have any security issues with you. You don't even look like the same person I met a few days ago, let alone a cop."

"Let's hope ma'am. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be checking into my room and then going to get to know some of the other contestants."

"Of course dear. I will see you at the introductory brunch."

I turn around and head towards the lobby, minus Frost. He must have left during my little chat with Cynthia. Oh well.

I am greeted by a fake plastered smile from a blonde bimbo at the desk, acting way too cheery in my opinion.

"Good evening miss. How can I help you?"

"Yes, hi. Is there a manager by the name of Vince Korsak?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No, not yet anyways. I just need to see the manager please."

"Umm… I believe he's in the back. I'll get him for you."

"Thanks…" I say but it falls on deaf ears. This woman had attitude from the moment I stepped up to the counter. I am so done with her right now. Literally, not having a decent amount of sleep is seriously starting to get to me.

A few moments later, Korsak comes out of the 'back room' in a relatively nice suit. We make eye contact and he sends me a wink. I snort a little before putting on a straight face trying to play the part.

"Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yes. I am here for the Miss Boston Pageant. My name is Jane Reeves."

"Ahh yes. You are in suite 407. Your suite mate is a Maura Doyle. Good Luck with the pageant." He says handing me the key card.

"Thank you." I say turning back around. I scan the lobby for Frost but of course I can't find him. How can he be this hard to find, I think to myself.

I pull my bags to the side and pull out my home. Unlocking the screen i see a message from Frost. 'Meet me at the car'. Looking around to make sure no one will take my things I see Anthony's smiling face.

"Hello Sunshine. Excited?"

'Why does he always sound so cheery?'

"Just ecstatic" I grumble. "Frost needs me outside…"

"Ahh yes, Mr. Frost. Go. I'll watch your things."

I give him a skeptical look before turning around and walking away. I don't get too far before I'm running into someone. I manage to regain my balance and look down to see the most beautiful person sitting on the floor.

" _Oh my god! I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I needed to check in and I didn't see you at all…."_ The beauty rambles on, shaking her head.

"Hey, it's okay. It was completely my fault. I wasn't paying attention." I say, taking the woman's hand and helping her stand up. She blushes, but lets me help her up. When I grab her hand to pull her up, I feel sparks. I brush it off, and introduce myself.

"Hi, Jane Reeves." _"Maura Doyle."_

* * *

 **A/N: By the way, we hope to have the next chapter up by next week! So keep a look out! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4: Invisible

**A/N: Hey guys! I know that this chapter is shorter than usual but I wanted to give you guys something since I just updated my other story (Lonely Eyes). Hope you guys like it!**

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

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Hanging by a Moment

Chapter 4: Invisible

 **Maura's POV:**

"Toothbrush? Check. 7 pairs of Pajamas? 1…2...3…4…5…6… and 7. Check. Panties and Matching Bras? Check. New swim suit? Check. Talent outfit? Check." Maura Isles checked off on her list of things needed for the Pageant. Her duffle bag was filled as was an extra suitcase with shoes and extra clothes. She was excited. Her Aunt Constance had suggested this pageant to increase her social status and stated 'It's what an Isles would do.' Maura didn't feel like an Isles. Sure her father was an Isles by birth but the way her Aunt acted isn't how she wanted to act. When she signed up for the pageant she used her mother's maiden name, Doyle. She had a feeling that if the other girls knew she was rich they wouldn't accept her or would just be nice to her because of the status of her last name.

Thinking of her parents she sighed. How would they have felt if she asked them about the pageant? Would they be pleased? Was she doing the right thing? Her ultimate decision to do the pageant was to receive the scholarship to help pay for medical school. Her parents had set up a trust fund for her as did her uncle but she couldn't access them until she was 25. She was 23 now and didn't want to wait to start Medical School. Even though she lived with her Aunt Constance, she refused to help pay for her College education. 'It wasn't what an Isles did' Constance claimed, 'If your parents hadn't died then we would not be having this problem.'

That day still haunted Maura. Her parents Paddy and Hope Isles had dropped her off to spend time with Aunt Constance and Uncle Arthur. The police said that their little sports car was hit by a car that ran a red light and they died on impact but Maura never believed them. She was 7 at the time. No little girl wanted to believe her parents were gone forever. 10 years later her Uncle Arthur was going to meet Maura at a café on BCU's campus when he was attacked and murdered. He was the only person besides her parents and her godfather that actually cared about her. After that, Maura was in a bad place. Everyone who loved and understood her was no longer on this Earth. Constance couldn't understand why she would rather read and learn about science and the human body instead of going on dates or her art shows. They only thing they had in common was shopping and Constance still didn't want do that with Maura.

When Maura's parents died, Constance gave up on her. She sent Maura to an all-girls Boarding School in France, much to Arthur's dismay. When Maura graduated and came home for college at the age of 15, she only had uncle Arthur to talk to. Then he was taken from her, and she was alone again. But she was used to it. It seemed nothing good could last for her or work out for her. She didn't have any friends at school, because who would want to be her friend. Boys were attracted to her at first glance, but only for her body. Once they realized she was smarter than them, and just overall awkward, they all dumped her. No guy wanted to be with a brain, even though she was the full package of beauty and brains. She was just socially awkward. She knew that since she could read. She would read medical journals, she loved psychology and pathology. She diagnosed herself at age 9 in Boarding School and she had accepted it. If only people took the time to get to know her, they would find the amazing girl hidden under all the walls, smarts, and awkwardness.

Closing her notebook with the check-list, she grabbed her bags and headed to the cab. Constance was in France for her new art show so she wouldn't be coming to the pageant and Maura didn't know how to feel about that. 'Like always Maura. You can't get your hopes up for anything.' she scolded herself. Closing the door to the cab she said, "Boston Convention and Event Center please."

As the cab took off, she watched the scenery. Boston was beautiful in the spring. It was her mother's favorite season. The trees were getting their leaves back from the harsh winter and some of the flowers were blooming. As the cab drove past the Boston Public Garden, she couldn't help but marvel at all the greenery there. Her favorite flowers were roses, especially the rare black ones. She often thought of herself as a rose. A tough shell with thorns but once you got past that there would be the most beautiful and intricate petal design with the sweetest smells and beautiful true colors. Maura never had anyone get past her shell and baggage. But that was fine by her. She was okay alone. There was never anyone to disappoint her or hurt her. But there was never anyone to share thing with or talk to. But that's what her tortoise Bass is for right?

The cab lurched to a halt in front of the hotel connected to the Convention Center. She paid the driver and collected her belongings from the trunk. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breathe. "Nōsce tē ipsum" she whispered to herself as she pushed the door open.

The lobby was packed. There was luggage everywhere and just as many people to accompany it. 'Breathe Maura. Breathe or you're going to pass out.' The voice inside her head told her. She took a deep breath and moved to go to the front desk. Suddenly she was on the ground. Looking up she saw a woman maybe a year or two older than her reaching her hand down to help her up.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I needed to check in and I didn't see you at all…." Maura rambled on, shaking her head. 'Come on Maura, not even 10 minutes into the pageant and you're already messing everything up.' "Hey, it's okay. It was completely my fault. I wasn't paying attention" The woman with curly black hair said, taking Maura's hand and helping her stand up. Maura straightened up her skirt and looked up to see the woman's extended hand. "Jane Reeves" "Maura Doyle."

* * *

They just stand there for a second, hands still interlocked, not saying anything. They realize they have been just standing there holding hands for too long and both jump apart.

Jane clears her throat and says, "Since you haven't checked in yet, let me be the one to inform you that I am your roommate for the duration of this lovely pageant. I'm going to head up to our room, you go check in and then I will see you up there."

After Maura checked in, she headed up to the room. Upon entering, she sees Jane there, unpacking her suitcase with her back towards Maura.

Needless to say, shy Maura was nervous about being around the confident, funny, outgoing, gorgeous Jane. Little did she know, Jane was also smitten with the quiet beauty. Neither knew how they would survive sharing a room together without something transpiring. They both hoped they didn't make fools of themselves, and couldn't get to know more about each other. Well in Jane's case, her fake life story is the one she will be sharing.

* * *

 **A/N: Guys, don't forget to check out my story Lonely Eyes and my co-writers .ruby (and my) story Moments in a Life! Reviews are like candy and I really like candy lol xD**


	5. Chapter 5: Grin and Fake it

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this chapter. School ended (yay!) so we should be posting more chapters soon! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

* * *

Hanging by a Moment

Chapter 5: Grin and Fake it

Jane finally realizes Maura is in the room after she hears the door close. She turns around and sees Maura standing there, frozen like a statue with deer in the headlights eyes.

"Hey Maur" Jane says, trying to pull Maura out of her thoughts. "I probably should have waited for you and I'm sorry about that. Did you want a certain bed or side of the room? I can move my shit over if you need me to. I don't mind."

Maura was pulled out of her never, over-reacting thoughts when Jane started speaking then went back into them. 'Maur?' she thought, 'I never had a nickname before. God Maura, the first person you're attracted to in a while and she probably only wants to be friends. You've never had a friend before. Maybe this could work...'

Jane just stares at her. "Maura?" she asks. After not getting any kind of response or recognition she tried again. "Maura, is everything alright?" she asks louder. After a second, Jane lets out a small laugh and shakes her head. Deciding to get Maura's attention, she walks over and touches Maura's arm. "Maura?" she tried again.

'I don't know if I can go through with being friends. What if something gets said and she hate me or is homophobic. God Maura, why don't you just try and get a new roommate?' Maura was pulled out of her thoughts and finally noticed Jane standing in front of her. She jumped and make a squeaking noise. She saw that Jane was looking expectantly at her. "I'm sorry Jane. I completely zoned out. What was it you were saying?" Maura asks with her eyes lowered and cheeks growing a slight blush.

'God, this is gonna be to easy. I've only been in her company for like 5 minutes and I'm already falling for her.' Jane smirked. "It's alright Maura. I just wanted if you wanted any particular part of the room? I don't mind moving my crap."

"Jane, language." Maura scolds lightly, "You already have most of your things unpacked. I'm fine on this side of the room."

"Are you sure?" Jane asks. "Yes Jane, I insist." Maura smiles as she places one of her huge suitcases on the bed and starts to unpack.

A few moments later Maura stopped unpacking and looked at Jane. "Jane?" Maura asks sheepishly.

"Yeah Maur?" Jane looks up from moving her clothes from the suitcase to the drawers.

"Well I have a few questions. Um.. the first is why do you call me 'Maur'? And the second one is why are you being so nice to me? I mean we are competing against each other for one common goal. The crown and the scholarship money. We probably both need the money to help out our future. Shouldn't you be trying to sabotage me every chance you get?"

At Jane's blank stare Maura continues, rambling on. "I've done a lot of research about these pageants and have watched a few movies. Each resource has pointed to the fact that we shouldn't be friends. "Maur." "Not that I wouldn't want to be your friend. "Maur." "You seem very nice, not out to get me. Or maybe that's the plan…"

"MAURA!" Maura stops rambling and looks up at Jane sheepishly.

"I'll have you know, I'm not like most girls. And definitely not your typical pageant girl. At the end of this, only one person is coming out a winning but I'd like to come out with some new friends either way. So I'm being nice because I want to be friends with you, and still see you after this competition is over. And as for calling you Maur, it just came out. If you don't like it let me know, I mean we only just met today."

"No that's okay, it's just I've never had a nickname before."

"Well get used to it", Jane says with a smile.

-(Page Break)-

After having their little heart to heart and unpacking, Jane and Maura head down to the mandatory Welcome brunch with all of the other contestants. It's in the grand ballroom of the hotel, there are round tables set up all around the room.

It looks so stiff. All the other girls look like little dolls sitting on their fancy chairs with impeccable posture, not even touching the food in front of them. It's like they think they will gain weight just looking at it.

Maura and Jane look at each other quickly, then head to their designated table and sit at their assigned seats, which are right across from each other. The minute Jane sits down she grabs a biscuit and starts to butter it and pile it on with as much as she could. She didn't eat breakfast that morning, so she was starved. She would probably regret it once she had to fit into that formal dress and the swimsuit portion. But at this moment, all she cared about was stuffing her face with all these delicacies sitting untouched in front of her. She isn't even listening to what the director has to say, much to the dismay to the other girls at her table. Just as she goes to take a bite of the biscuit, she hears this loud screeching sound in her ear.

"Ahh! Jesus Christ…." Jane screams and suddenly realizes that all eyes are on her. 'Think fast Rizzoli…' she thinks to herself.

"Jane are you alright?" Maura asks, very concerned.

"I took a bit of my biscuit and.. and I forgot to pray." Jane said as she dropped to her knees. 'What prayers do I even know? oh god…. ummm…. ahhh I got it.'

"Bless us, O Lord, and bless the food we are about to you for the food we eat, the friends we meet, the people around us, thank you for work and play, and thank you for this day. Forgive me for my sins and help us to do your will every day. Help the world find peace and heal the hurt found in this world. Amen."

"That was beautiful, Jane." Maura whispers to her across the table, getting very misty eyed.

By the end Jane had everyone praying in some fashion.

"Well played Rizzoli", Frost said into the mic, "Well played. Meet in the conference room on the third floor after brunch. It's time to start your training. Haha."

-Page Break-

After quick announcements from the directors, the ladies were left alone to eat and get to know each other. Maura and Jane were having a great time learning about each other and also about the other girls they are competing against. Although Jane wasn't completely innocent in her conversation, she was trying to scope out everyone and everything she could to try to find connections to Hoyt, or at least who to watch out for and keep an eye on. She is scanning the room when she sees a woman a few tables away, staring at her and Maura. Once the woman realized she was caught she quickly turned away and Jane went back to conversing with the others at her table. Jane made a mental note to tell Frost about that woman when they meet after brunch, but for now she just focuses on sussing out the competition. As much as she hates to admit it, she's actually having fun and doesn't hate acting like an actual girl as much as she thought she was going to. Especially because it brought her to Maura.

-Page break-

Brunch ends at 3pm. That gives the girls 2 hours to go back to their rooms and get ready before rehearsal.

"Hey Jane?" Maura asks nervously as they walk back to their room. Even though brunch went well, Maura didn't really make a connection with anyone other than Jane and she was okay with that. 'I only need one friend and if that's Jane, than I am okay with it' she thought.

"Yeah Maur?"

"Do you want to.. now only if you want to..but you don't have to. After all we are just roommates. We will probably never see each other after this and we don't have to get close since we are the others competition…"

"Maura."

"Yes Jane?"

"You're rambling again."

"Oh. I'm sorry Jane." Maura says sheepishly. "What I was trying to say was would you like to have some girl time when we get to the room? I can make us some hot chocolate..only if you want some...a lot of the girls won't drink that kind of stuff...but we can talk about whatever you want to." 'You can tell me if you're single… Oh please stop getting your hopes up, Maura. Just because you are single doesn't mean that someone as attractive as Jane is single. But I really hope that she is..' she thinks as she waits for Jane to answer her.

'Let her down easy. You have a job to do. You need to talk to Frost and Anthony and start training if you even want to be able to get Hoyt. Just think you are doing this for Maura. So she can be safe and maybe, hopefully you guys can get closer. Even though right now you just want to have the girls day, snuggle her, and compliment her, and kiss h- woah, getting ahead of yourself. Just right now let her down gently.' Jane thinks to herself.

"That would be great Maur, but I have to meet with my manager. You know how they are right? I need to be prepared for this competition."

Jane watches as Maura's face morphs from happiness to disappointment and quickly adds, "But after rehearsal I would love to do a girl's night with you." she adds with a smile and watches Maura's face breakout into the biggest smile possible.

"Okay Jane! Have fun with your manager. I'll see you at rehearsal!" Maura says as she skips down the rest of the hall to their room.

'Good one Rizzoli,' Jane mentally congratulates herself as she quickly takes the stairs up to the conference room to talk to her team.

-page break-

Frost and Anthony, along with a few other cops, were waiting for Jane when she finally got to the room.

"Alright listen up, the pageant starts in 2 days, so we all really need to be on the look out for anyone suspicious and gathering all the intel we can." says Frost.

"And Jane, I need to somehow get you ready and make you appear to have experience in pageants before the rehearsal they have tonight. Can't have you going to the wrong spot and making us all look like fools." Anthony grumbles.

"Everyone needs to take you seriously Jane. Blend in, be one of the girls, get them to trust you. You can't look like an outsider to anyone. So act the part." Frost says seriously.

"Yes guys, I know the importance of this assignment, believe me. Speaking of suspicious people when we were at brunch, I kept feeling eyes on me, like someone was staring at me and I finally saw who it was, a girl who was from Brooklyn originally, I don't know her name though. Once she saw me looking at her she looked away but I didn't like the way she was looking at me and Maura. I want to know everything i can about her so I know if she's worth looking after or if I should move on and focus on other potential links to Hoyt and his ring."

"While I was going through all of the case files a girls name came up. She was related to Hoyt somehow. Maybe that's her. Actually, now that I come to think of it, there was girl that was linked to Hoyt. A step daughter, Cara Davis. "

"Try looking for other girls that could have connections. Maybe she's just one of his lackey's or related to the higher ups somehow. They wouldn't have just anyone come to the pageant to be their ears. She has to be important somehow. Didn't his second hand man have a niece he was close with. Maybe she's trying to get revenge on us after we killed him in that bust. As far as I remember, he was her only living relative. You know how the gang members are, one big family, all of 'em, and they like to make people pay for hurting their own. Maybe that's what this is. Let's look more into his second in command. He's gonna be the one to lead us to Hoyt, because Hoyt is covering his tracks to well, he knows we're coming after him."

"So you and Maura eh? Haven't seen you that close to someone in a long time. Not since…"

"Alright easy there Frostie. Nothing going on with me and Maura. We're just friends. I mean we are roommates and you also told me to blend in and making friends is part of that."

"Wanna try that again? You know without the lying to yourself part."

"Alright enough chit chat. Let's get to work. Miss Rizzoli, or should I say Reeves, I'll see you at center stage, pronto."

"Don't worry we have undercover plainclothes officers all around the building who will make sure no one sees you practicing and think you are getting special treatment, that's grounds for disqualification and we need you in this until the end. "

Jane heads to the stage, and prepares herself for some sore feet. Her heels are killing her, and she still has hours of practice strutting around the stage ahead of her.

They get to the swimsuit portion and that's when things go downhill. Jane has to reveal all of her scars now, the makeup team hasn't arrived to do their magic on her messed up body yet. She takes a deep breath and heads out to the stage. She's in the middle of the stage when she feels all eyes on her. To her it looks like they are staring at her mess of scars littering her body, not much was left to imagination in this suit. She looks up and sure enough, some of the light guys and local undercover cops are staring at her, unable to help it. She doesn't blame them, but she's still uncomfortable.

"Okay look I'm done. We don't need to practice this portion. I put on this skimpy swimsuit, walk down there and walk back. Not hard. So can we be done now please?"

Before Anthony can say anything, Jane storms off stage and heads to get changed. She's on the verge of a panic attack. As she makes her exit she sees someone out of the corner of her eye, almost like they were watching her, waiting for her. Jane heads closer to try to figure out who it was, if she even saw anyone at all, but the person disappeared into the shadows. Little did she know, more people were watching her than she thought. Even though this was a closed practice, a little money goes a long way to overworked cops. And Hoyt had the money. He and his lackeys, including Cara, were watching her from above.


	6. Chapter 6: Perhaps

**A/N: And... WE'RE BACK! Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long. We both got really caught up with school and work and life. But were back and ready! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing!**

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Hanging by a Moment

Chapter 6: Perhaps

After a rough rehearsal with Anthony, Jane storms into the room, throwing her bag on the bed, then going into the bathroom and slamming the door. She has to get it together soon, they have a run through with everyone in about an hour and she has to get ready still, as they will be making the practice as authentic as possible, heels, hair and makeup done. No sweats much to the chagrin of Jane.

Jane hears a soft, hesitant knock on the bathroom door. It's Maura. She was outside on the balcony, enjoying the rare nice weather, when she heard Jane storm in. She didn't know if she should go after her to see what was wrong or not. But ultimately she decided she should, they are sort of friends anyways, or at least trying to be, and that's what friends do right?

"Jane?" Maura asks hesitantly after softly knocking. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine, Maura." Jane answers shortly. She didn't mean to take her anger out on Maura but there was no one else to take it out on, she couldn't help it. Hopefully Maura would understand.

"Are...are you sure Jane? We can ta-"

"God Maura! I said I was fine. Just drop it and leave me alone." Jane yelled as she exits the bathroom and left to get her clothes for rehearsal. Leaving Maura standing there with her mouth open and silent tears falling down her cheek.

They both quietly get ready, not saying a word and obvious tension filled the room. Maura kept looking up at Jane, trying to judge if it was safe to say anything. And when Maura wasn't looking, Jane too was watching Maura sadly, regretting what she said.

Maura was ready quicker than Jane, after all, she's had more practice dressing like a girl and didn't have to hide a badge and the other stuff that Frost and the guys hooked up to her. She grabs her water bottle and quickly wiped the tears that kept falling without her permission. "I'll uh see you there." Maura said quickly and left the room.

Right as she leaves, Jane gets mad again.

"God dammit Jane, why did you have to do that. Maura was just trying to be nice, and you were a bitch and made her cry! _I can't believe how close I am to this girl already, how much I care for her, it's kinda scaring me. I haven't felt like this since….well that doesn't matter,_ Jane thinks to herself. _What matters is that I messed up already, big time. This whole situation is messed up._

Jane's thoughts got the best of her, and all of her anger came out, all over her hand. She punched the mirror, and ended up with a shard of glass in her hand. Right next to Hoyt's handiwork.

All Jane can do is stare at the blood running down her hand and remember…

 _Jane was sitting in her room, the incident with Hoyt was weeks ago, but it still felt so fresh in her mind. She relived it every day, every time she looked at her hands, moved too quickly, and even closed her eyes. She saw him everywhere, always lurking in the shadows of her bedroom and her mind. Just taking a walk to the grocery store was torture. She saw him in the cashier at her favorite coffee shop, heard his voice at every turn. Every night she went to sleep it was like she was transported back to the warehouse where he kept her for 2 months, waking up to him smiling in her face. His breath reeked of cigarettes and stale booze and she could remember all of it; every time she woke up screaming and thrashing. After she was over the shock of her nightmare she would look for Olivia, just to find her hiding in the corner of the room with tears streaming down her face, almost curled up inside of herself. Jane hated how much this was affecting Olivia, she thought once she was back everything would be better between them. But it's not, it's like Olivia is scared. Not of Jane, but that what Jane went through changed her. After months of being stuck in this loop, of Jane's nightmares and incessant talking about Hoyt and how she was going to catch him no matter the cost, Olivia finally had enough._

" _Jane, all you keep talking about is how important it is to you that you get Hoyt. Don't you get I'm scared of that? It was absolute hell knowing he had you, for months, doing who knows what to you. And now you are back and I just want to put that behind us as best as we could and spend the rest of our lives together. I'm not expecting you to be the same Jane immediately, or even at all, but I don't even see a glimmer of the woman I love when I look in your eyes. You are totally disregarding yourself and everyone around you. You are stuck in this rut, totally and completely obsessed with Hoyt. You need to let this go for now and take care of yourself. You need to get better Jane. You aren't sleeping well, we don't talk like we used to. You aren't the same. You need to move on. And so do I. I can't be with someone who has so much disregard for themselves. So unless you tell me you will let this go, I'm done, we're done."_

 _Jane doesn't say anything, just sits there quietly. Finally after a moment she speaks, "You can't make me choose, Liv."_

" _That's just it Janie. There shouldn't be a choice. You should choose living in the present, with me and everyone else who loves you that you've been pushing aside for months. If you really loved me, you would see how hurt I am, how hurt your family is. If you loved me, truly, you would get better for yourself first, before even thinking about getting near Hoyt again. I can't do this. We're done."_

 _She threw the ring across the room, and left the apartment, for good, and Jane couldn't blame her._

A knock at the door ended her flashback. She quickly pulled the glass out of her hand and wrapped it in a towel to try to stop the bleeding.

"Yes?", Jane said, trying to sound normal and strong, instead it came out quiet and scared.'

"Miss Reeves, you have 20 minutes to get down to the auditorium. Almost everyone is there besides you. So please get there as soon as you can."

"Yes okay sorry, I will be there in 10 minutes. Thank you."

After putting pressure on it for a few moments, the bleeding finally stopped. Jane cleaned the cuts out, and bandaged them. Jane looks at herself in the now broken mirror, takes a deep breath, adjusts a stray hair, puts on lip gloss and then heads to the rehearsal.

Jane is just about to enter the auditorium when her phone rings. Without even looking at the caller id, she answers. All she hears at first is static, she thinks it's maybe her Ma, pocket dialing her again, "Ma, is that you? Are you there? Hello?" Jane pulls the phone away from her ear and looks at the number. She didn't recognize it. After a few more moments of nothing, Jane sighs and is about to hang up, when she hears the voice that has haunted her dreams.

"Nice to hear from you Janie. Remember me? Your worst nightmare? Just wanted to tell you to back off, or else i'm coming for you. Oh and watch who you spend your time with, I may be closer to you than you think."

"Risky move Hoyt, calling me like this."

"Tell me Janie, do you still smell like lavender and fear?" when he got no response he continues, "I've always loved the combination on you."

"I'm not afraid of you anymore Hoyt. I'm ready for you."

"I hope so Miss Rizzoli, or excuse me, Miss Reeves, see you soon." Before Jane could even say another word he hangs up.

Jane shudders, and feels a cold chill go up her spine. She looks up at the clock and realizes she doesn't have time to deal with this right now. She drops it for now and walks into the auditorium, just ready to get this awful day over with, and that means strutting across stage for the next 2 hours surrounded by other Barbie's running this through until it's perfect.

"Miss Reeves, right on time. Although I always say on time is late." Richard the instructor says in a very annoyed tone.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Jane says as she goes to the back of the group, lined up behind a snotty looking, tan skinned, blonde and brunette haired beauty. Jane notices everyone staring at her and just gives a sheepish smile in response. She notes that out of all the people looking at her, Maura isn't one of them. Maura is just looking at the floor, waiting for Richard to start the practice so she can leave and hide somewhere Jane won't find her.

Practice starts a few minutes after Jane showed up. Jane silently thanks her mother for the forced 10 years of dance because she's able to pick up the steps and get into the groove more quickly than anyone in that room would have imagined. But every time she tries to get Maura's attention, nothing happens. Maura stays quiet and stares at the ground, well really anywhere Jane isn't, and Jane blames herself. She did this. She yelled at her back in the room, and now she's hurt this innocent, lovely, sweet, and caring person who she can see herself really coming to like (maybe even love someday) because she couldn't handle her temper. Now isn't the time for her to be dealing with this though, she needs to focus and blend in, act like she knows what she's doing so that when she makes it to the top 5 no one is suspicious. This whole thing needs to go as seamless as possible in order for her to get Hoyt once and for all. So, she sucks it up, and grins and bears it, just itching to get out of this dress and into some sweats, and hopefully fixing things with Maura, if she'll even ever look at Jane.

-Page Break-

 _A few hours later. . ._

'Stupid fucking Anthony… stupid shoes… why do heels have to be part of a beauty pageant? Why can't we just wear nice tennis shoes or something? Heels fucking hurt! What the hell….' Jane mumbles to herself as she walks back from rehearsal with Anthony. Since it's past curfew she has to walk outside to the sliding door of her room. She's too busy kicking rocks and complaining to notice someone walking behind her. She's almost to her room when she hears something. She turns around and sees nothing. She stops for a moment and looks around, assessing the situation for any threats. Once she's satisfied it's safe, she continues walking to the room. All of a sudden something is coming out of the bushes behind her. She whips around and is face to face with Cara.

"What are you doing here? Are you following me!? I saw you watching Maura and I at the welcome luncheon. What is with you!?"

"Don't think I'm stupid Jane. I know you know. I'm here for Hoyt. You see, you took someone from me, someone very important. And you don't even care. So I'm coming for you. And so is Hoyt. You better be ready. But for now, stay away from me. You know too much. I'll leave you alone, keep your secret. After all, I want to see Hoyt get you. He has plans for you so much better than mine. I'm just along for the ride, a pawn in his game if you will. So if you care for yourself and those you love at all, stop looking. Stop sniffing around. Spend the little time you have left making memories with your family and friends, good ones. Once Hoyt gets to you, I don't think you will be having many of those ever again."

With every threat she makes, Cara inches towards Jane, moving her backwards. Jane doesn't realize how close she is to the pool until Cara shoves her in. Jane screams in shock and falls back into the cold water. When Jane surfaces, Cara turns to leave. Cara stops for a second and then calls over her shoulder, "Enjoy the time you have left Jane." and hurries back to the shadows when she hears a door slide open.

"Hello, is someone out here?", Maura calls out. She walks out the sliding door and finds Jane in the pool.

"Jane, are you alright? It's past curfew? What are you doing in the pool? In your clothes no less? Was that you who screamed?"

"Oh hi Maura. Yeah I'm alright. I just saw a skunk in the bushes and freaked out. I was closer to the pool than I thought and fell in."

"Oh. Well, as long as you're okay. You know skunk spray is harmless right? It just smells, it won't hurt you if that's what you're worried about."

"Well thanks for the info. And I know it won't hurt, I just don't want to stink."

Maura shakes her head and says nothing, just turns and walks back into the room.

"Maura wait, that didn't come out right. I didn't mean to be so snippy about it. And i'm sorry about earlier too. I was just so stressed and worried and I took it out on you. Can you please forgive me?"

Maura just stands there, not saying anything for a few minutes. Finally she looks at Jane, soaking wet in the pool with a pleading look on her face.

"Oh, all right." Maura heads towards the pool.

"Hey Maur, can you help me out of the pool?"

"Sure" Maura leans down, extending her hand. Before she knows it, Jane is pulling her into the pool with a laugh.

Maura hits the water with her hands and turns to look at Jane with fury in her eyes.

"What did you do that for? Now we are both all wet."

Maura tries to be mad at Jane, but one look at her face she can't stay mad. She fakes annoyance swims away, and then splashes Jane when she isn't looking.

They splash each other back and forth for a few minutes, laughing and having fun. They near each other with every splash, and before they know it they are face to face, only inches apart.

They just stare at each other for a few minutes, smiling at each other, not saying a word. They lean in to kiss and are about to when they hear something.

"What in the world is going on here!?"

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 **Hope you all enjoyed it! Please R &R!**


	7. Chapter 7 (Part 1): The Way I Am

**A/N:** Aaaannnnndddd we're back...hopefully... Hey guys! Sorry to leave you hanging for so long. We have been so busy with this last semester. But thankfully, its over and now we can relax and actually have time to write for you! We will try to get at least 2 updates for this story before we have to go back to school but no promises. But rest assured, we will finish this story!

 **Disclaimer:** We own nothing.

Well enjoy guys!

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 _"What in the world is going on out here?!"_

"Uhhh….Hi Hope. We were just taking a dip in the pool. Cooling off. You know, stress relieving. Is there something wrong with a midnight swim?" Jane challenges.

Hope narrows her eyes at Jane, "Well since it's past curfew it's kind of a problem. The rules of the pageant were very clear when it stated that all girls had to be in their rooms by midnight. It is now 1 am and you guys are swimming around. Does that sound fair to you Jane?"

"No ma'am."

"And you of all people should understand the importance of being treated fairly and like all the others. Rules are important don't you think. Wouldn't want anyone thinking i'm giving special treatment, would we? Do I make myself clear?" Hope says with a pointed look at Jane.

"Crystal."

"Good. I'm glad we have come to an understanding. Now you two get out and go to bed. I'll think of a punishment for you later. I am very disappointed in you Ms. Doyle." With that Hope turned and left, leaving a guilty looking Jane and a shocked and scared Maura.

"Maur, did you bring out any towels?" Jane asked as she stepped out of the pool looking around. When she didn't get an immediate response she turned to back to the pool, "Maur?"

"Maura, what's wrong?" Jane worried when she saw the 'kicked puppy' expression on Maura's face.

"What do you think is going to happen Jane?" Maura asked as she started towards the stairs of the pool.

"Well we're going to go inside our room and dry off and get some sleep since we have to be up in,ugh, 8 hours." Jane responded in her usual smart-ass tone accompanied by a lovely eye roll.

"No Jane. I mean with Hope, with the pageant. She seemed really mad. I've never been in trouble before. Do you think she will kick us out? And what did she mean about you and being treated fairly, what was that about?"

"Maura relax. We aren't going to get in trouble. Let's just get back in the room before anyone else sees us out here. Then we'd really be in trouble. We can talk about what almost happened later, but for now we need to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, the first day of the pageant and all."They both get out of the pool and try to dry off as much as they can before entering their room. "Jane?" Maura asks quietly as they change into fresh, warm pj's. "Yeah Maur?" Jane answers with her mouth full of toothpaste.

"I'm nervous." Maura continues, not really giving Jane a lot. "What if I don't make it to the finals? What if I fall on my face tomorrow and ruin my chances?"

"Oh Maur. You'll be fantastic. You were the best one in rehearsal. Every other girl was jealous that you were grasping everything so quickly. Believe me, you'll do fine." Jane responds as she pulls back the covers of her twin bed, secretly wishing that they pushed the beds together and she could cuddle Maura and make her feel a little less worried.

Maura seems to take everything Jane said in. She didn't think she was that good and the dance moves were easy for her. She danced for years, she kind of expected herself to pick up everything quickly. "Thanks Jane. It's just that this is my only chance to be able to go to medical school and I don't want to mess anything up." She says, with her voice getting closer to a whisper by the end.

This new revelation intrigues Jane. "What do you mean?"

"My aunt isn't ...nice I guess would be the best word to use… she isn't the nicest person. She has cut me off from the money my uncle left me. She doesn't believe that a woman of my status should be going to excess schooling. So this is the only chance I have to get the money to go to medical school." Maura says looking away from Jane. "I know it's a silly reason."

'Oh poor little rich girl Maura', Maura waits for but what is said next completely shocks her. "Screw your aunt. Clearly she isn't the brightest out there. If she can't help you reach your dreams then you don't need her at all. Do you live with your aunt?"

"Yes. I've lived with them all of my life. My parents died a little after I was born." Maura says as silent tears fall down her cheeks. She doesn't want Jane to see her cry but it's too late for that.

Jane was already up and walking over to Maura's bed when she heard the soft hitch in her voice at her last statement. 'Good going Rizzoli… well now at least you can cuddle with her for a little bit.' "I'm sorry Maura. I didn't mean to pry." Jane pulls back the covers to Maura's bed and slide in behind her. Maura turns into her warmth and snuggles up into Jane. "It's alright Jane. You didn't know. I don't know why i get so upset. I never knew them and I never will. It's like missing something I never actually had." Maura sniffles and Jane starts to run her fingers through Maura still wet hair.

"I won't say that I understand because I don't but I can see your logic behind it all. It's always going to be a tough topic for you to talk about and to even accept." Maura starts to cry again, "Shh... pretty girl. It's okay. Let's just think happy thoughts right now. We really need sleep and I really don't want to get yelled at by Hope again." Jane kisses the top of Maura's wet head and tries to untangle herself from Maura's grasp.

"Stay, please." Maura whispers, looking up at Jane with pleading eyes. Eyes that said 'I trust you'. Eyes that said 'don't leave me'. Eyes that said 'I'm tired of being alone'. It was in that moment that Jane knew that Maura Doyle was going to change her life forever.

"Always" Jane responded and snuggled closer. Pulling Maura tighter to her, Jane waited for her breathing to even out before even thinking about letting sleep come over her. She places a soft kiss on Maura's head and sighed. She knew that this wouldn't end well. Maura would find out that some of this and her were a lie and she didn't want that to happen. So Jane did the only thing she could let herself do. Live in the fantasy until she got close to Hoyt and then let Maura go. She knows both their hearts are going to be broken anyways, so why not enjoy it while she can, before it all turns to hell. After a while, Jane let her stop thinking and too, drifted off to sleep.

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 **Maura POV:**

I woke up feeling arms around me. I smile realizing its Jane and think back to our talk last night. I know I shouldn't but I'm starting to have strong feelings for the mysterious woman beside me. She's unlike anyone I have ever met. After a few minutes of savoring the feeling of being in Jane's arms, since I don't know when or even if I will get the chance again, and then I slowly and quietly slip out of Jane's grip and head to the bathroom, trying to be as quiet as possible to let Jane get her sleep.

I wash my face, studying the girl looking back at me in the mirror..I'm slowly starting to recognize the girl staring back at me. For the longest time, I didn't know who she was, but now that I'm going after what I want, and after I met Jane, she's starting to come back to me. It's crazy how much better you feel after going after what you want,following your dreams, you just feel free.

The first day of the pageant is finally here, and I feel the nerves creeping up. If I could, I wouldn't be doing this, wouldn't have to worry about tripping and embarrassing myself on a stage in front of thousands of people, but this is what I need to do to win, for me to go to medical school, which just adds to my nerves.

Tonight is the beauty/evening wear portion, which out of all of them is my favorite. The least embarrassing, it's not like you have to say anything or worry about looking good in a bikini, you just get all dressed up in a pretty dress and think about not falling on your face. And what girl doesn't love getting dressed up every once in awhile.

I'm just finishing up the last minute touches to my makeup when I hear Jane stir with a groan. I walk back into the room and greet her with a soft smile.

"Good morning sleepy head, how'd you sleep?"

Jane just looks at me with a questioning, slightly confused look, and then looks at the clock.

"Why are you up so early? We don't have practice for another few hours. I was enjoying cuddling up with you."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I actually slept in. I'm normally up at 5am to get in a quick workout. Then by 8 I'm heading out the door to class. I stay at the university's library until 8 at night, then go back home and have a glass of wine and study then go to bed."

"Don't you go out with friends after class?" Jane asks as she gets comfy in bed again.

I pause because the last thing I need is for her to feel sorry for me. "I have a lot of studying that I need to do to prepare for the MCATs so I don't have a lot of time for hanging out with friends." I pray that the hives don't appear. 'It wasn't a total lie. I am very busy and focused on my studies. I could make friends if I wanted to. If I had friends I would make the time to be with them..' I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Jane being Jane.

"The what cats? Since when did cats have anything to do with med school? Are you going to be a veterinarian or something?"

"The Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT for short. A 7 and a half hour test consisting of 230 questions that I have to take. In order to even be considered for admission by a medical school I have to pass, but have to do really well to get into one of the good ones. You need a 37 out of 45 to get into the best medical school in the country, Harvard, which is where I wanna go. Kind of a big deal. Pretty much my whole future career as a surgeon relies on this test. I'm in my senior year at Tufts right now, and still have at least 7 years of med school and residency ahead of me. So everything has to be perfect the first time around, no time to waste for me. I'm already 23, I'll be at least 30 by the time everything is over."

-R&I-

Meanwhile in Jane's mind...

' _She's worried about being done with schooling by the time she's 30? I already am 30!_ ' Jane thinks to herself, realizing for the first time what truly different stages of their lives Maura and Jane are at. Maura is just starting her life, and Jane is no stranger to this crazy thing we call life, a true contributing member to society. She's a veteran of life, has seen what the world has to offer, both good and bad. Could something between them really work out? They want, and have, totally different things. They are from different worlds, Jane a blue collar girl with deep roots who went to a community college and stayed around and joined the police force. Maura is a trust fund baby, never had to want for anything, can get whatever she wants, fancy travels, and her choice of amazing schools and jobs considering her wealth and the fact she's ridiculously smart. Maura has her whole life ahead of her.

 _'Maybe I'm insane for feeling like this. Fooling myself into thinking maybe, just maybe these feelings I've has been experiencing could blossom and turn into something more, that would change both of their lives._ '

Before she could ponder her feelings and their possible future together any longer, she is pulled back to the present.

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 **JANE POV:**

"Jane, you there?" Maura was asking her, touching her arm with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Oh yeah sorry Maur. I was just thinking about today. I'm anxious about the pageant ya know?"

"Don't be silly. Everyone will love you. We've been practicing so much that it will all be fine. Don't stress about it too much. After all it's just glorified walking, it should be second nature for the both of us by now, right?" Maura said with a laugh as she rubbed Jane's arm.

"Yeah I guess you're right, it's just there's a lot riding on this. We all have so much riding on this but only one of us is going to come out on top. Are we crazy for even trying to do this?"

For the first time, Jane is truly starting to doubt her abilities. She has yet to catch Hoyt, this is her last chance, and she's falling in love with Maura. She can't afford the distraction. Her career, and life, depends on her successfully catching Hoyt, and this pageant is the only way left she has to do so. And Maura, she needs to win to go to med school, to start her life and follow her dreams. Will this mutual desire to reach the same goal damper their budding relationship?

Before they can continue their conversation, they are stopped by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Jane called.

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 **A/N:** Review if you want. They will be greatly accepted :)!


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